ALBERT

Notes: Three change-over experiments were conducted to determine the effect on ad libitum silage intake and milk production in dairy cows of treatment of barley supplements with an acid-formaldehyde reagent designed to reduce the rate of starch and protein digestion in the rumen. In Experiment 1 there were six dietary treatments consisting of silage with supplements of 4·0,6·5 and 9·0 kg d-1 of barley given untreated or treated with formaldehyde reagent (8·1 t-1). In Experiment 2 there were four dietary treatments consisting of silage with supplements of barley (7·0 kg d-1) or barley and fishmeal (6·0 kg d-1 plus 1·0 kg d-1), with the barley untreated or treated with formaldehyde reagent (15·1t-1). In Experiment 3 there were four dietary treatments consisting of silage given alone or with supplements of barley (9·0 kg d-1). Treated barley (15·1 t-1, 9·0 kg d-1) and barley plus sodium bicarbonate (9·0 kg d-1 plus 25·0 g d-1).Treatment of the barley supplement with formaldehyde reagent had no effect on silage intake or milk production in Experiment 1 where the rate of application of the reagent was low and the basal silage-barley diet was limiting in rumendegradable nitrogen. However, in Experiments 2 and 3 treated barley supplements were associated with improvements in silage intake and milk production. As compared with corresponding control diets containing untreated barley, increases in silage intake ranged from 0 to 0·16 of the control value, whilst associated increases in the yields of milk, milk fat, milk protein and lactose were 0·077–0·089, 0·016–0·026, 0·092–0·118 and 0·080–0·092 of the control value. These responses are discussed in relation to the increases in silage intake and milk production observed with fishmeal supplementation of the diet in Experiment 2 and inclusion of sodium bicarbonate in Experiment 3.

Notes: The main object of the experiment was to assess the effect of the relative proportion of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) to total nitrogen in silage on digestion in the sheep. Four unwilted perennial ryegrass silages were made with the addition of formic acid at 0, 2·2, 4·2 and 5·2 litres t-1 to provide foods with NPN proportions reducing from 0·26 to 0·20 of the total N. The digestion of the silages was studied in a 4 × 4 Latin Square experiment with sheep cannulated in the rumen, proximal duodenum and terminal ileum.Results for organic matter (OM), cellulose and N showed no major difference between silages in their digestion in the rumen, small intestine and caecum and colon, though small differences (P 〈0·25) in rumen fermentation pattern and in the proportion of digestible OM disappearing in the small intestine were observed. Concentrations of ammonia N in the rumen and rates of rumen bacterial protein synthesis did not differ significantly between silages and there were no treatment effects on the passage of individual amino acids to the small intestine. The results indicate that the proportions of NPN to total N in the silages examined had little influence on the efficiency of silage N utilization in the rumen or on the passage of undegraded dietary protein to the small intestine.

Notes: In two 4 × 4 Latin Square experiments, one with dry cows and one with sheep, animals were given ad libitum early-cut ryegrass silages prepared using formic acid (2.31 t−1) as an additive. The silages were offered either untreated or partially neutralized with either a low (8 g kg−1 fresh weight) or high (16 g kg−1) level of sodium bicarbonate or with sodium bicarbonate solution (50 g kg−1) given as an intraruminal infusion at a rate sufficient to provide bicarbonate at a rate similar to that provided by the high level of dietary addition.In cows the bicarbonate treatments were associated with a depression in the intake of organic matter which at the high level of addition of bicarbonate was statistically significant (P 〈 0.05). In sheep the bicarbonate treatments were associated with a slight increase in the intake of organic matter but the efFects were non-significant (P 〉 0.05). In both species water intake increased directly with the quantity of bicarbonate ingested.In both experiments the bicarbonate treatments increased rumen pH but there were no significant treatment effects on the concentration of ammonia or of total or individual short-chain fatty acids in the rumen fluid. In sheep, bicarbonate addition or infusion had no effect on the digestibility of organic matter but at the high levels of bicarbonate supplementation there was a tendency for the digestibility of nitrogen to be depressed.In two further experiments each with two dry cows determinations were made of the effects on food intake of (a) the insertion of water-filled bags into the rumen and (b) the removal of digesta from the rumen. Treatment (a) produced consistent and significant (P 〈 0.05) depressions in dry matter intake and treatment (b) increased (P 〈 0.05) dry matter intake in one cow but not in the other.The lack of significant improvement in silage intake through the addition of sodium bicarbonate to the diet indicated that the acidity of the silage was not a major factor limiting appetite. On the other hand, the effects of the insertion of water-filled bags into the rumen and of the removal of digesta from the rumen on feed intake were consistent with appetite being controlled through a rumen-fill mechanism.

Notes: Three castrated male sheep fitted with rumen and duodenal re-entrant cannulae were used in a 3×3 Latin Square experiment to investigate the digestion of three diets of red clover silage with supplementary concentrates containing barley or barley and groundnut meal or barley and urea. The supplements were designed to be isocaloric and the groundnut meal and barley-urea mixtures to be isonitrogenous.There were no significant (P 〉0.05) differences between treatments in the digestibility of organic matter (mean value 71.2%) or in the percentage of dietary organic matter digested in the stomach (mean value 53.6%) and diiferences between treatments in the concentrations of total and individual short-chain fatty acids in the rumen were small. The nitrogen intake for the barley treatment was 19.41 g/d and that for the groundnut meal and barley-urea treatments were 23.36 g/d and 23.05 g/d respectively. Corresponding figures for the duodenal flows of nitrogen were 21.97 g/d, 21.48 g/d and 21.14 g/d and for the faecal losses of nitrogen were 7.09 g/d, 6.98 g/d and 6.92 g/d. As a consequence, although the diets supplied quite different amounts of digestible crude protein they supplied similar amounts of crude protein digested in the intestines.

Notes: Six castrated male sheep were used in a two-period crossover experiment to investigate the effect of mincing on the voluntary intake and digestibility of a silage. The silage was a high-quality material, containing 68 % digestihle organic matter in the dry matter, prepared from S24 perennial ryegrass cut with a precision chop forage harvester and ensiled with the addition of 2.3 1 t−1 formic acid as preser vative. The median size of particles in the unprocessed silage was 10–20 mm and in the minced silage 2–3 mm.The intakes of dry matter, organic matter and nitrogen for the minced silage were greater than for the unminced material, and for dry matter and organic matter intakes the differences were signi ficant (P〈0.01). Mincing was associated, however, with a depression in the digestibility of all three constituents which offset the increase in intake. The intakes of digestible organic matter were 817 g d-1 for the minced silage and 729 g d−1 for the unminced material (P〉0.05). Corresponding figures for digestible nitrogen intakes were 208 gd−1and23.0 gd−1 (P〉005).It is concluded that with high-quality silage diets there is a physical component in the mechanism for the control of voluntary food intake. It is suggested that for sheep, depressions in the digestibility of dietary constituents are unlikely to occur until silages are chopped to a median particle size of 5–10 mm.

Notes: The effect of intravenous supplements of L-methionine on the voluntary intake of a ryegrass silage, prepared using formic acid as an additive, was determined in a 4×4 Latin Square experiment with 4 sheep. Animals receiving no methionine consumed 1061 g DM/day; those receiving 0.8, 1.2 and 2.0 g methionine/day consumed 1015, 1012 and 1078 g DM/day. The concentration of methionine in blood plasma (Y; (imoles/I) increased with the dose rate of methionine infused (X; g/day) such that Y=36.7 + 38.3X (r=0.80; P〈0.001). It is concluded that with a diet of this type methionine may be limiting for protein synthesis in the tissues but is not involved in the control of food intake.

Notes: Two experiments are reported. In the first experiment the amino acid compositions of rumen bacteria and protozoa isolated from sheep given a diet of grass silage were compared with those taken from sheep given a diet of hay and barley; four sheep were assigned to each diet. There were no significant differences (P〈0·05) between diets in the amino acid compositions of the microbial fractions and bacterial contents of α-ɛ-diaminopimelic acid were also similar for both diets.In the second experiment the digestion of a grass silage and barley diet (65:35; 135 g CP (kg DM)-1) was studied using four non-lactating Ayrshire cows fitted with cannulae in the rumen and in the proximal duodenum. The mean N intake was 154 g d-1 and the corresponding duodenal flow was 126 ± 10 g d-1 indicating that 0·21±0·07 of the N intake was absorbed between the mouth and the duodenum. The mean rumen NH3-N concentration was high, 297 g litre-1, and the mean rate of microbial protein synthesis in the rumen was low, 17 g microbial N (kg OM apparently digested in the rumen)-1. There was a low content of bacterial N in the non-ammonia N at the duodenum (mean proportion 0·52±005) and low concentrations of methionine and lysine in the duodenal digesta protein. The results are discussed in relation to previously published data on the digestion of silage diets in sheep and to the utilization of silage diets for milk production in the cow.It is concluded that with silage diets the supply of methionine and lysine to the duodenum is likely to be low because of the low rates of microbial protein synthesis in the rumen and that in cows those two amino acids may be limiting for milk production.

Notes: Bidirectional mass selection for naupliar length was practised in Artemia franciscana from Great Salt Lake, UT, USA, with the aim of developing two divergent lines, namely small naupliar size (SNS) and bigger naupliar size (BNS). A random-bred control line was also maintained to quantify the environmental effects. The mean naupliar length in the base population was 486.99±2.11 μm in males and 490.58±1.82 μm in females. Six generations of selection for smaller naupliar size in the SNS line resulted in a phenotypic response of –45.32 μm and –37.52 μm decreases in naupliar size in males and females respectively. In the BNS line, responses (increase in size) from five generations of selection for bigger size were 8.59 μm and 35.80 μm respectively. The cumulative genetic gain in males and females of the SNS were –41.72 μm and –38.76 μm compared with 12.64 μm and 39.48 μm, respectively, in the BNS line.

Notes: Artemia, in all stages of its life cycle, is suitable food for most diversified groups of aquatic animals. Although its size at different stages restricts its use as a food for some groups of fish, this problem can be overcome using selective breeding techniques. The formulation of any selective breeding programme calls for a proper understanding of the genetic architecture of the economically important traits of the population under study. Thus, heritability for certain important life history and reproductive traits was estimated in Artemia franciscana from the Great Salt Lake, Utah. In the present study, the sexwise heritability values for growth and reproduction traits were estimated using parent–offspring regression. The phenotypic parameters for the same traits are also recorded. The naupliar length was 487.0±2.0 and 490.6±1.8 μm for males and females, respectively, whereas the heritability values for naupliar length were 0.5851±0.2153 and 0.3766±0.1899 respectively. The length at 3 and 6 days of age were 1.87±0.03 and 4.10±0.08 mm, respectively, for males whereas 1.87±0.03 and 4.30±0.08 mm, respectively, for females. The heritability values for length at 3 and 6 days of age for males were 0.3272±0.3651 and 0.4965±0.2466, respectively, whereas the respective values for the females were 0.1167±0.3841 and 0.0222±0.2971. The estimates of length at first brood, pre-reproductive period and number of offspring in first brood were 10.09±0.23 mm, 16.00±0.23 days and 53.57±1.37 days, respectively, whereas the heritability values for respective traits were 0.0403±0.1078, 0.3234±0.2874 and 0.3404±0.2202.